Time-lapsing data methods and systems

ABSTRACT

Time-lapsing mirror methods and related systems.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to, claims the earliest availableeffective filing date(s) from (e.g., claims earliest available prioritydates for other than provisional patent applications; claims benefitsunder 35 USC § 119(e) for provisional patent applications), andincorporates by reference in its entirety all subject matter of thefollowing listed application(s) (the “Related Applications”); thepresent application also claims the earliest available effective filingdate(s) from, and also incorporates by reference in its entirety allsubject matter of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s). The United StatesPatent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to the effect that theUSPTO's computer programs require that patent applicants reference botha serial number and indicate whether an application is a continuation orcontinuation in part. The present applicant entity has provided below aspecific reference to the application(s)from which priority is beingclaimed as recited by statute Applicant entity understands that thestatute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does notrequire either a serial number or any characterization such as“continuation” or “continuation-in-part.” Notwithstanding the foregoing,applicant entity understands that the USPTO's computer programs havecertain data entry requirements, and hence applicant entity isdesignating the present application as a continuation in part of itsparent applications, but expressly points out that such designations arenot to be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/oradmission as to whether or not the present application contains any newmatter in addition to the matter of its parent application(s).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

1. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled TIME-LAPSING MIRROR, namingPaul G. Allen, Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Mark A. Malamud, andJohn D. Rinaldo, Jr. as inventors, U.S. application Ser. No.: 10/910,421filed 02 Aug. 2004.

2. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled COSMETIC ENHANCEMENT MIRROR,naming Paul G. Allen, Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Mark A.Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr. as inventors, U.S. application Ser.No.: 10/912,271 filed 05 Aug. 2004.

3. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled MULTI-ANGLE MIRROR, namingEdward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Mark A. Malamud, and John D.Rinaldo, Jr. as inventors, U.S. application Ser. No.: 10/941,803 filed15 Sep. 2004.

4. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled MEDICAL OVERLAY MIRROR, namingPaul G. Allen, Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Mark A. Malamud, andJohn D. Rinaldo, Jr. as inventors, U.S. application Ser. No.: 10/951,002filed 15 Sep. 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates, in general, to time-lapsing methods andsystems.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to an image storagedevice configurable to store at least one historical image of at least apart of a patient; an image playback device (i) configurable to presentresponsive to a medical expert specification related to at least a partof an image of the patient and (ii) operably couplable to said imagestorage device; and an image sequencing engine (i) operably couplable tosaid image playback device and (ii) configurable to present at least apart of the at least one historical image in a time-lapse context. Inaddition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present application.

In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to accepting inputrelated to at least one remotely-captured patient image; and presentingto a medical expert one or more historical images related to at least apart of the at least one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapsecontext. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent application.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to recognizing amedical indicator; and presenting at least a part of one or moreremotely-captured images in response to the recognized medicalindicator. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent application.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to accepting inputof at least a part of a remotely-captured image of a mirror; andpresenting to a medical expert one or more historical images related toat least a part of the remotely-captured image of the mirror. Inaddition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present application.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to accepting inputof at least a part of a remotely-captured image of a wireless device;and presenting to a medical expert one or more historical images relatedto at least a part of the remotely-captured image of the wirelessdevice.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or system aspectsare set forth and described in the text (e.g., claims and/or detaileddescription) and/or drawings of the present application.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/orprocesses described herein, as defined solely by the claims, will becomeapparent in the detailed description set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a partial view of a system that may serve as anillustrative environment of and/or for subject matter technologies.

FIG. 2 depicts a partial view of a system that may serve as anillustrative environment of and/or for subject matter technologies.

FIG. 3 illustrates a partial view of a system that may serve as anillustrative environment of and/or for subject matter technologies.

FIG. 4 shows a partial view of a system that may serve as anillustrative environment of and/or for subject matter technologies.

FIG. 5 depicts a partial view of a system that may serve as anillustrative environment of and/or for subject matter technologies.

FIG. 6 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

FIG. 7 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 depicts a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 depicts a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting an alternateimplementation of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 shows a pictographic representation of a dialog between patient1300 and physician's assistant (“P.A.”) 1302 that is transpiring inmedical treatment facility 1350 (e.g., a clinic, hospital, physician'soffice, hospice, a home hospice setting, etc.).

FIG. 14 depicts a medical treatment facility 1350 containing a systemhaving components analogous to those described in relation to FIGS. 3,4,and/or other figures elsewhere herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates a pictographic representation of the systempresenting four (4) time sequenced views showing the growth of a lesionwithin a skin region over time (e.g., the previous 3 months, which inthe current example is the extent of historical images on external drive202).

FIG. 16 shows a system substantially analogous to the system of FIG. 15,only modified such that image recognition system is now accessing olderimages of patient 1300 through cell phone 1306.

FIG. 17 depicts a cell phone 1306 wirelessly accessing historical imagesof image storage device_3 206, such as over a cellular network.

FIG. 18 illustrates an implementation in which a wireless device acts asan image capture device, which can prove particularly advantageous inregions with underutilized wireless network capacity (e.g., Asia,Europe, and/or North America).

FIG. 19 shows a high-level logic flowchart of a process. Method step1900 shows the start of the process.

FIG. 20 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logical flowchart of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 depicts a high-level logic flowchart illustrating alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 10.

FIG. 23 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 depicts a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 22.

FIG. 25 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting alternateimplementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24.

The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the figures, and with reference now to FIG. 1, shownis a partial view of a system that may serve as an illustrativeenvironment of and/or for subject matter technologies. Depicted aremirror 100, image capture device 102, input capture device 104, andimage playback device 106. In one exemplary implementation, mirror 100can be a plane mirror, a convex mirror, and/or a concave mirror.Examples of such mirrors may include bathroom, hall, and/or handheldmirrors. In another exemplary implementation, mirror 100 can be apartially silvered mirror. In some exemplary implementations, mirror 100can be a physical mirror. In other exemplary implementations, mirror 100can be a digital mirror and/or a projection mirror. In yet otherimplementations, mirror 100 can be a combination of one or more physicalmirrors and/or one or more digital mirrors and/or one or more projectionmirrors. In some implementations, image playback device 106 may presentvarious types of time-lapse information in addition or in thealternative to image information, such as height and/or weightinformation. In some implementations, presentations of information maybe in the form of various modalities including but not limited tographs, tables, audio (speech, music, sound), text, email (e.g. a weeklydigest), et cetera.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, illustrated is image playback device 106proximate to mirror 100. One exemplary implementation of image playbackdevice 106 proximate to mirror 100 includes but is not limited to imageplayback device 106 integral with physical mirror 100. Another exemplaryimplementation of image playback device 106 proximate to mirror 100includes but is not limited to image playback device 106 operablycoupled with physical mirror 100 (e.g., as used herein, proximate maymean operationally proximate—able to work and interact together eitherdirectly or through intermediate components—as well as and/or inaddition to physically proximate and/or mechanically proximate). Yetanother exemplary implementation of image playback device 106 proximateto mirror 100 includes but is not limited to image playback device 106in physical communication with physical mirror 100. One exemplaryimplementation of image playback device 106 in physical communicationwith physical mirror 100 includes but is not limited to image playbackdevice 106 connected with a frame connected with said physical mirror100. In some implementations, image playback device 106 can be a lightgeneration device (e.g., a plasma display and/or a liquid crystaldisplay), an image presentation device (e.g., a direct projection to theeye retinal display), and/or a laser device (e.g., a laser diodedevice), overlays (e.g. onto templates on a medical expert's computer orother device), e-paper, a printout, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 2, depicted is a partial view of a system that mayserve as an illustrative environment of and/or for subject mattertechnologies. Illustrated is that image sorting engine 200 interfaceswith image capture device 102. Shown is that image sorting engine 200interfaces with image storage device_1 202, image storage device_2 204,and image storage device_3 206. In one exemplary implementation, imagesorting engine 200 receives images from image capture device 102 andsorts the received images into one or more of image storage device_1202, image storage device_2 204, and image storage device_3 206 based onpattern recognition algorithms. For example, in an implementation whereimage capture device 102 is capturing three-dimensional (3-D) images ofa human subject, image sorting engine 200 may utilize 3-D imageprocessing routines to sort various recognized captured images intoimage storage device_1 202, image storage device_2 204, and imagestorage device_3 206 (e.g., where images of a first person are sorted toimage storage device_1 202, images of a second person are sorted toimage storage device_2 204, and images of a third person are sorted toimage storage device_3 206). Those skilled in the art will appreciatethat, as used herein, sorting can include categorization, ordering,and/or other operations such as those described herein.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, in one implementation, image capturedevice 102 can include at least one image representation device locatedto capture a field of view of mirror 100. For example, an activephoto-detector array completely and/or partially in identity with adisplay portion of mirror 100 or a lensed image capture system isoriented such that it could capture all or part of an image reflectedfrom mirror 100. In another exemplary implementation, image capturedevice 102 can include at least two image representation devices locatedto capture a field of view of mirror 100. For example, two or morecamera systems positioned to capture stereo imagery such that 3-Dimaging techniques may be applied. The image capture devices describedherein can be positioned substantially anywhere an image of mirror 100can be captured, such as behind mirror 100 in order to catch transmittedimages through a partially silvered mirror, to the sides and/or aboveand/or below a mirror, and/or positioned and/or oriented to the front ofa mirror in order to record images reflected from a mirror. In someimplementations, the image capture devices may also be positioned suchthat they reside behind where a user would be expected to stand whenviewing mirror 100.

With reference now to FIG. 3, illustrated is a partial view of a systemthat may serve as an illustrative environment of and/or for subjectmatter technologies. Shown is captured input storage device 300exchanging signals with input capture device 104. Depicted is imagerecognition engine 302 exchanging signals with captured input storagedevice 300, image sorting engine 200, image storage device_1 202, imagestorage device_2 204, and image storage device_3 206. In one exemplaryimplementation, a user (e.g., a human user) touches and/or circles aregion of an image in mirror 100 and asks that the system show atime-lapse presentation of the region over some interval of time. Forexample, a human user touching a skin lesion on his/her image and askingthat the system show the mole over the last three months. In response,in one implementation captured input storage device 300 captures boththe region of the image touched as well as the request for thetime-lapse presentation of the mole (in some implementations, therequest is typed such as via touch screen entry to a menu driven system,while in other implementations, the request is spoken such as via voicerecognition input driven system). Thereafter, in one implementation,image recognition engine 302 interacts with image sorting engine 200 todetermine where images associated with the person whose input has beencaptured are stored. For example, if the person in the mirror'spreviously captured images had been stored in image storage device_3206, then image sorting engine 200 would inform image recognition engine302 of that fact. Thereafter, image recognition engine 302 would knowthe storage location of that person's image.

Referring now to FIG. 4, shown is a partial view of a system that mayserve as an illustrative environment of and/or for subject mattertechnologies. Depicted is image recognition engine 302 interfaced withimage sorting engine 200, image storage device_1 202, image storagedevice_2 204, and image storage device_3 206. Illustrated is imagerecognition engine 302 interfaced with image registration/comparisonengine 402. Shown is image registration/comparison engine 402 interfacedwith image sequencing engine 404. In one exemplary implementation, imagerecognition engine 302 retrieves time-sequenced images from one or moreof image storage device_1 202, image storage device_2 204, and imagestorage device_3 206. Thereafter, image registration/comparison engine402 uses some relatively stable image feature(s), such as anatomicallandmarks (e.g., bony regions or a center part of some definedanatomical feature), to encompass and or localize a region of interestwhere some feature of interest resides, to provide proper alignment.Image sequencing engine 404 then presents the aligned images in a timesequenced fashion such that the changes in the region of interest can beviewed over time. For instance, a time-lapse presentation of how a molehas grown over the last few months.

In some implementations, instead of or as an addition to the foregoing,image registration/comparison engine 402 compares a specified feature(e.g., hair length or jowl size) against a reference value and presentsinformation (e.g., an alert) when the specified feature exceeds thereference value by some defined amount. As a specific example, a usermight instruct the system to alert her if her hair has grown more than 8millimeters beyond some reference length. If her hair did exceed thethreshold beyond the reference length, the system would present adisplay indicating that event, and perhaps suggesting that a haircut wasneeded.

With reference now to FIG. 5, depicted is a partial view of a systemthat may serve as an illustrative environment of and/or for subjectmatter technologies. Illustrated is the system presenting four (4) timesequenced views showing the growth of lesion within a skin region overtime. Depicted is that the lesion is dark with an irregular border andgrowing, such as, for example, a melanoma region. Other things could belike depicted, like hair length, jowl size, etc.

Following are a series of flowcharts depicting implementations ofprocesses. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are organized suchthat the initial flowcharts present implementations via an overall “bigpicture” viewpoint and thereafter the following flowcharts presentalternate implementations and/or expansions of the “big picture”flowcharts as either sub-steps or additional steps building on one ormore earlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an overallview and thereafter providing additions to and/or further details insubsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and easyunderstanding of the various process implementations.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart ofa process. Method step 600 shows the start of the process. Method step602 shows accepting input related to an image in a mirror (e.g., viacaptured input storage device 300 and/or its supporting components).Method step 604 depicts presenting one or more stored images having atleast a part of the image in the mirror (e.g., such as shown/describedin relation to FIG. 5). Method step 606 shows the end of the process.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in some implementations,the “at least a part of the image” can include but is not limited to arecognized region of an image or a recognized anchor point associatedwith an image which will provide the ability to do presentation onregions that both are and are not readily visually coordinated with anoriginal field of view of a mirror. For example, in a handheld mirrorimplementation, a user might zoom in on a region of an image and thenask to see a time-lapse sequence of images representative of changes inthat zoomed-in region, such that the zoomed-in region is not readilyvisually coordinated with the original unzoomed field of view of themirror. The inventors point out that those skilled in the art willappreciate that while the zoomed-in region might not be easily visuallycoordinated with the unzoomed field of view, in some implementations theuse of anchor points will allow coordination between the zoomed andunzoomed views. In addition, the inventors further point out that whileexamples set forth herein focus on anatomy and/or anatomical change forthe sake of clarity, the systems described herein can actually trackand/or show a time lapse of substantially any object that may bereflected in the mirror. For instance, a person being able to use hercell phone in an airport bathroom to send an image of here stools in thetoilet so that subsequently a medical expert could call up a history ofher stools would in fact constitute an image “of” that person, or “of atleast a part of that person,” as such words/phrases are used herein.

With reference now to FIG. 7, shown is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 6. Depicted is that in various alternate implementations, methodstep 602 includes method step 700 and/or method step 702. Method step700 shows accepting touch input to a mirror surface proximate to the atleast a part of the image in the mirror (e.g., via input capture device104 capturing input when a user's finger is proximate to an image inmirror 100). Method step 702 depicts accepting input of at least one ofa user touching herself, a user gesturing, or a user speaking inrelation to the at least a part of the image in the mirror (e.g., viainput capture device 104 capturing input when a user's gestures orpointing relative to at least a part of an image in mirror 100 and/orthe user speaking a command in relation to at least a part of an imagein mirror 100).

Referring now to FIG. 8, depicted is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 7. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step700 includes method step 800 and/or method step 802. Method step 800shows detecting input to a touch screen device associated with themirror (e.g. via mirror 100 and/or input capture device 104 and/or oneor more of their supporting components). Method step 802 depictsdetecting input to a cursor device associated with the mirror (e.g. viamirror 100 and/or input capture device 104 and/or one or more of theirsupporting components).

With reference now to FIG. 9, illustrated is a high-level logicflowchart depicting alternate implementations of the high-level logicflowchart of FIG. 6. Depicted is that in various alternateimplementations, method step 604 includes method step 900, and/or methodsteps 902-906, and/or method steps 912-914. Method step 900 shows onealternate implementation of locating one or more images having the atleast a part of the image in the mirror. For example, locating the oneor more images via image sorting engine 200, captured input storagedevice 300, image recognition engine 302, and/or one or more of imagestorage devices 202-206.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 9, method steps 902-906 depict anotheralternate embodiment. Method step 902 illustrates identifying one ormore anatomical landmarks demarcating the at least a part of the imagein the mirror (e.g., via image sorting engine 200 and/or imagerecognition engine 302). Method step 904 shows obtaining one or moreimages having the one or more anatomical landmarks (e.g., via imagerecognition engine 302 and/or image registration/comparison engine 402).Method step 906 depicts presenting the one or more images having the oneor more anatomical landmarks (e.g., via image playback device 106 and/orimage sequencing engine 404).

Continuing to refer to FIG. 9, method steps 912-914 illustrate yetanother alternate embodiment. Method step 912 shows tracking a specifiedfeature having a state (e.g., via image registration/comparison engine402 and/or its supporting components). Method step 914 depictspresenting the one or more stored images when a change in the stateexceeds a selected tolerance value (e.g., via imageregistration/comparison engine 402 and/or image sequencing engine 404and/or their supporting components).

Referring now to FIG. 10, shown is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 9. Depicted is that in various alternate implementations, methodstep 906 includes method step 1000 and/or method step 1002. Method step1000 illustrates registering at least a portion of the one or moreimages having the one or more anatomical landmarks with the image in themirror (e.g., via image registration/comparison engine 402). Method step1002 shows sequencing at least a portion of the one or more imageshaving the one or more anatomical landmarks (e.g., via image sequencingengine 404).

With reference now to FIG. 11, depicted is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 9. Illustrated is that in various alternate implementations, methodstep 912 includes method step 1100 and/or method step 1102. Method step1100 illustrates tracking at least one of hair length or specified jowlsize (e.g., via image registration/comparison engine 402 and/or itssupporting components). Method step 1102 shows tracking at least one ofa skin lesion or a body region (e.g., via image recognition engine 302and/or image registration/comparison engine 402 and/or their supportingcomponents), which the inventors point out is helpful in a handheldmirror implementation.

Referring now to FIG. 12, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting an alternate implementation of the high-level logic flowchartof FIG. 9. Shown is that in one alternate implementation, method step914 includes method step 1200. Method step 1200 shows presenting animage having the state in conjunction with an image whose state exceedsthe selected tolerance value (e.g., via image recognition engine 302and/or image registration/comparison engine 402 and/or image sequencingengine 404 and/or their supporting components).

With reference now to FIG. 13, shown is a pictographic representation ofa dialog between patient 1300 and physician's assistant (“P.A.”) 1302that is transpiring in a medical treatment facility 1350 (e.g., aclinic, hospital, physician's office, hospice, a home hospice setting,etc.). Depicted is that physician's assistant 1302 is visually examiningpatient 1300's skin lesion and asking questions related thereto.Specifically illustrated is that physician's assistant 1302 is askingwhether the lesion is new, whether the patient has seen any changes inthe skin lesion in the last few months, and, if so, what type ofchanges. Depicted is that patient 1300 is responding that he does notremember, but that he has historical image data of his torso for atleast the last 3 months on external drive 1304 which is one exemplaryimplementation of image storage device 202, 204, and/or 206 describedelsewhere herein, and which may be any suitable commercially availableexternal drive (e.g., a USB flash drive, a micro hard drive, an EEPROM,etc.). Further depicted is that the patient is also responding thatolder data can be accessed from other remote storage through patient1300's cell phone 1306. FIG. 13 is illustrative of the more generalscenario wherein a medical expert might desire historical data relatedto a medical indicator (e.g., a condition).

Referring now to FIG. 14, depicted is medical treatment facility 1350containing a system having components analogous to those described inrelation to FIGS. 3, 4, and/or other figures elsewhere herein.Illustrated is image sequencing engine 404 presenting an image ofpatient 1300 through image playback device 106. In one implementation,the presented image is a remotely-captured historical image of patient1300 gleaned from external drive 202, while in another implementationthe presented image is a proximately captured image, such as might becaptured by a camera of medical treatment facility 1350 or with a cellphone camera such as might be carried by patient 1300 and/or physician'sassistant 1302.

Depicted is input capture device 104 accepting input indicative ofmedical indicators resident within or on the image of patient 1300(e.g., accepting input specifying a portion of the image containing asuspicious-looking lesion). In one implementation, the input isgenerated by a robotic entity (e.g., an artificially intelligent medicalexpert system) in response to a robotic entity within an imagerecognition engine detecting the medical indicator resident within or onthe image. In one implementation, the robotic entity uses commerciallyavailable medical image recognition logic. In another implementation,the robotic entity uses commercially available medical image recognitionlogic in conjunction with historical images of the medical indicator todetect changes in the historical images indicative of a medicalcondition (e.g., a skin lesion growing larger and/or darker). In oneimplementation, the input is received from a human medical expert (e.g.,physician's assistant 1302) using one or more input devices such as amouse, cursor, laser pointer, gesture, voice recognition, etc. to selectthe medical indicator resident within or on the image.

With reference now to FIG. 15, illustrated is a pictographicrepresentation of the system presenting four (4) time sequenced viewsshowing the growth of a lesion within a skin region over time (e.g., theprevious 3 months, which in the current example is the extent ofhistorical images on external drive 202). Since there are four imagesshown for three months in the example, those skilled in the art willappreciate that image sequencing engine 404 is presenting in time-lapsedformat. Shown is that the lesion is dark with an irregular border andgrowing, such as, for example, a melanoma region. Further depicted isphysician's assistant 1302 commenting that she would prefer to seeimages from an earlier point in time.

Referring now to FIG. 16, shown is a system substantially analogous tothe system of FIG. 15, only modified such that image recognition systemis now accessing older images of patient 1300 through cell phone 1300.Depicted is that the system is presenting older images of patient 1300to physician's assistant 1302, and that those older images show arelatively long period where the lesion was relatively stable (e.g., notchanging).

With reference now to FIG. 17, depicted is cell phone 1306 wirelesslyaccessing historical images of image storage device_3 206, such as overa cellular network. In one implementation, the historical images arepresented to human and/or robotic expert systems. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that conventional wireless details (e.g., thosehaving base stations and/or other underlying and/or supportingcommunications infrastructure) have been omitted from FIG. 17 for sakeof clarity. In one implementation, both cell phone 1306 and the systemresident in patient 1300's home 1600 have logic sufficient to allowaccess to the historical images of image storage device_3 206 in amanner such that the access is relatively transparent to imagerecognition engine 302; such logic is within the ambit of one skilled inthe art in light of the logic herein and hence is not explicitlydescribed for the sake of clarity. In addition, although FIG. 17 showsaccessing of an image store internal to home 1600, the inventors pointout that in some implementations the image store can be resident atanother network location, such as at a base station server of a wirelessnetwork communications system. One implementation where such serverstorage is likely is one in which cell phone 1306 is used as an imagecapture device.

Referring now to FIG. 18, illustrated is an implementation in which awireless device acts as an image capture device, which can proveparticularly advantageous in regions with underutilized wireless networkcapacity (e.g., Asia, Europe, and/or North America). Depicted is patient1300 holding cell phone 1306. Cell phone 1306 is shown having a cameraand relatively constant image capture logic 1702 which is logic thatensures that cell phone 1306 is relatively constantly capturing images.Illustrated is that relatively constant image capture logic 1702 causestransmission of the captured images to storage and/or forwarding logicfor relatively constant image capture 1704, which is logic that storesimages associated with either or both patient 1300 and/or user 1300'scell phone 1306. Depicted is that storage and/or forwarding logic forrelatively constant image capture 1704 stores images received and/ortransmits, and/or forwards, such images to image sorting engine 200resident within patient 1300's home 1600. Image sorting image 200 inconjunction with image storage devices 202-206 function and/or interactin fashions analogous to those described elsewhere herein and hence arenot expressly described here for sake of clarity. The inventors pointout that while the various logic and/or storage and/or sorting and/orforwarding entities are depicted in FIG. 18 in similar locations asdescribed elsewhere herein for sake of clarity, such entities can appearsubstantially anywhere within the system so long as the functionalitydescribed herein is achieved.

While some figures, such as FIGS. 15-18, have shown/described thehistorical images presented to physician's assistant 1302 (a medicalexpert) for sake of clarity, the inventors point out that in otherimplementations the historical images are presented to a roboticmedical-expert system. The robotic medical-expert system can beautomated systems (e.g., pattern recognition and/or other artificiallyintelligent systems) chosen from those available commercially and/oravailable from research institutions and/or within the ambit of thoseskilled in the art.

With reference now to FIG. 19, shown is a high-level logic flowchart ofa process. Method step 1900 shows the start of the process. Method step1902 shows accepting input related to at least one remotely-capturedpatient image (e.g., image recognition system 302 retrieving and/orreceiving input of one or more historical images from external drive 202(FIG. 15) and/or cell phone 1306 (FIG. 16) and/or supportingcomponents). Method step 1904 depicts presenting to a medical expert oneor more historical images related to at least a part of the at least oneremotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context (e.g., such asshown/described in relation to presenting to human and/or roboticexperts or expert systems such as shown/described in relation to FIGS.15-18). Method step 1906 shows the end of the process. Those skilled inthe art will appreciate that, in some implementations, the “at least apart of the image” can include but is not limited to a recognized regionof an image or a recognized anchor point associated with an image whichwill provide the ability to do presentation on regions that both are andare not readily visually coordinated with an original field of view. Forexample, in a handheld mirror and/or cell phone implementations, a usermight zoom in on a region of an image and then ask to see a time-lapsesequence of images representative of changes in that zoomed-in region,such that the zoomed-in region is not readily visually coordinated withthe original unzoomed field of view of the mirror. The inventors pointout that those skilled in the art will appreciate that while thezoomed-in region might not be easily visually coordinated with theunzoomed field of view, in some implementations the use of anchor pointswill allow coordination between the zoomed and unzoomed views. Inaddition, the inventors further point out that while examples set forthherein focus on anatomy and/or anatomical change for sake of clarity,the systems described herein can actually track and/or show a time lapseof substantially any object that may be reflected in the mirror and/orcaptured with the cell phone.

With reference now to FIG. 20, shown is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 19. Depicted is that in various alternate implementations, methodstep 1902 includes method step 2000, and/or method step 2002, and/ormethod step 2004. Method step 2000 shows accepting input of at least apart of a mirror image (e.g., image recognition system 302 retrievingand/or receiving input of one or more historical images captured by useof a mirror such as described elsewhere herein from external drive 202(FIG. 15) and/or cell phone 1306 (FIG. 16) and/or supportingcomponents). Method step 2002 depicts accepting input of at least a partof an image representation (e.g., image recognition system 302retrieving and/or receiving input of one or more historical imagerepresentations (e.g., line drawings, infrared outlines, ultravioletdata, etc.) captured by use of a mirror such as described elsewhereherein from external drive 202 (FIG. 15) and/or cell phone 1306 (FIG.16) and/or supporting components). The inventors point out that, as usedhere, the term “image” can generally also encompass an imagerepresentation, unless context dictates otherwise. Method step 2004illustrates accepting input from data storage (e.g., from external drive202, through cell phone 1306 accessing image storage device_3 206,etc.), where such data storage contains image data captured by use of amirror such as described elsewhere herein and/or through a camera ofcell phone 1306 (FIG. 18) and/or supporting components).

With reference now to FIG. 21, shown is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 20. Depicted is that in various alternate implementations, methodstep 2004 includes method step 2100 and/or method step 2102. Method step2100 shows accepting data over at least one of a wired connectionchannel or a wireless communication channel (e.g., image recognitionsystem 302 retrieving and/or receiving input of one or more historicalimages from at least one of a networked computer, anexternally-couplable storage medium, or a wireless network). Method step2102 depicts retrieving data from the data storage in response to aninput indicative of at least a part of a presented image (e.g.,retrieving in response to (a) physician's assistant 1302 input viasound, touch, and/or gestures and/or (b) robotic input received from arobotic entity, such as an Al entity in relation to one or morepresented images of a patient (e.g., image recognition system 302retrieving and/or receiving input of one or more historical imagerepresentations (e.g., line drawings, infrared outlines, ultravioletdata, etc.) captured by use of a mirror 100 and/or cell phone 1306 (FIG.16) and/or supporting components such as described elsewhere herein fromexternal drive 202 (FIG. 15) or through an external store accessed viacell phone 1306 (FIG. 17).

With reference now to FIG. 22, depicted is a high-level logic flowchartillustrating alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchartof FIG. 10. Depicted is that in various alternate implementations,method step 1904 includes method step 2200, and/or method steps2202-2206, and/or method steps 2212-2214. Method step 2200 shows onealternate implementation of presenting at least one of a specifiedregion of the image or a recognized anchor point associated with theimage (e.g., presenting all or part of a historical image having afeature identified by physician's assistant 1302 and/or a medical expertsystem, where the feature is characterized by a specified region of theimage and/or a recognized anchor point). Method step 2201 shows onealternate implementation of locating one or more images having the atleast a part of the at least one remotely-captured patient image in atime-lapse context. For example, locating the one or more images viaimage sorting engine 200, captured input storage device 300, imagerecognition engine 302, one or more of image storage devices 202-206,and/or cell phone 1306 communicating with a remote storage.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 22, method steps 2202-2206 depict anotheralternate embodiment. Method step 2202 illustrates identifying one ormore anatomical landmarks demarcating the at least a part of the atleast one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context (e.g.,via image sorting engine 200 and/or image recognition engine 302processing on at least one retrieved historical image). Method step 2204shows obtaining one or more remotely-captured images having the one ormore anatomical landmarks (e.g., via image recognition engine 302 and/orimage registration/comparison engine 402). Method step 2206 depictspresenting the one or more remotely-captured images having the one ormore anatomical landmarks (e.g., via image playback device 106 and/orimage sequencing engine 404). The inventors point out that while someexamples herein show/describe obtaining remotely captured images thathave the landmarks on or about the same physical structures, in otherimplementations the obtained remotely captured images have the landmarkson different physical structures. For instance, obtaining a set ofimages having landmark A on a second structure which in response to anidentification of the same landmark A on a first structure (e.g. aphysician is looking at an image of one eye of the patient and asks thesystem to present a history of the patient's other eye; a physician islooking at an image of one retina and asks to see a history of thepatient's other retina; etc.). The inventors further point out thatwhile some examples herein show/describe obtaining remotely capturedimages that have the landmarks on or about the same/different physicalstructures, in other implementations the obtained remotely capturedimages have the landmarks in the sense of medical context. For instance,while a finger and a toe might superficially be viewed as differentlandmarks, as used herein they may be viewed as practically similarlandmarks in that both constitute instances of medical-context“extremities.” Likewise, while a retina and a foot might superficiallybe viewed as different landmarks, as used herein they may be viewed aspractically similar landmarks in that both constitute instances ofindicators of medical-context diabetic complication severity (e.g., boththe condition of the retina and the foot may be indicative of problemsrelated to diabetes). Hence, as used herein, “one or moreremotely-captured images having the one or more anatomical landmarks” isindicative of “having” in a broad, inclusive sense.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 22, method steps 2212-2214 illustrate yetanother alternate embodiment. Method step 2212 shows tracking aspecified feature having a state (e.g., via imageregistration/comparison engine 402 and/or its supporting components).Method step 2214 depicts presenting the one or more stored images when achange in the state exceeds a selected tolerance value (e.g., via imageregistration/comparison engine 402 and/or image sequencing engine 404and/or their supporting components).

Referring now to FIG. 23, shown is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 22. Depicted is that in various alternate implementations, methodstep 2206 includes method step 2300 and/or method step 2302. Method step2300 illustrates registering at least a portion of the one or moreremotely-captured images having the one or more anatomical landmarkswith another image (e.g., via image registration/comparison engine 402).Method step 2302 shows sequencing at least a portion of the one or moreremotely-captured images having the one or more anatomical landmarks(e.g., via image sequencing engine 404).

With reference now to FIG. 24, depicted is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart ofFIG. 22. Illustrated is that in various alternate implementations,method step 2212 includes method step 2400 and/or method step 2402.Method step 2400 illustrates tracking at least one of hair length, suchas, for example, hair as on a suspicious mole, or jowl size, such as,for example, when a patient is suffering from the disease of aging(e.g., via image registration/comparison engine 402 and/or itssupporting components). Method step 2402 shows tracking at least one ofa skin lesion or a body region (e.g., via image recognition engine 302and/or image registration/comparison engine 402 and/or their supportingcomponents), which the inventors point out is helpful in a handheldmirror implementation.

Referring now to FIG. 25, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchartdepicting an alternate implementation of the high-level logic flowchartof FIG. 24. Shown is that in one alternate implementation, method step2214 includes method step 2500. Method step 2500 shows presenting animage having the state in conjunction with an image whose state exceedsthe selected tolerance value (e.g., via image recognition engine 302and/or image registration/comparison engine 402 and/or image sequencingengine 404 and/or their supporting components).

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specificexemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies arerepresentative of more general processes and/or devices and/ortechnologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filedherewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will require optically-oriented hardware,software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter subject matter describedherein are capable of being distributed as a program product in avariety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subjectmatter subject matter described herein applies equally regardless of theparticular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out thedistribution. Examples of a signal bearing media include, but are notlimited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks,hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, and computer memory; andtransmission type media such as digital and analog communication linksusing TDM or IP based communication links (e.g., packet links).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and electrical circuitry forming a communications device(e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use standard engineering practices to integrate suchdescribed devices and/or processes into image processing systems. Thatis, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes described hereincan be integrated into an image processing system via a reasonableamount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognizethat a typical image processing system generally includes one or more ofa system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices,such as a touch pad or screen, control systems including feedback loopsand control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing lens position and/orvelocity; control motors for moving/distorting lenses to give desiredfocuses. A typical image processing system may be implemented utilizingany suitable commercially available components, such as those typicallyfound in digital still systems and/or digital motion systems.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications,and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in any Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein byreference, in their entireties.

The herein described aspects depict different components containedwithin, or connected with, different other components. It is to beunderstood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, andthat in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achievethe same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement ofcomponents to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated”such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any twocomponents herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can beseen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionalityis achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components.Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being“operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achievethe desired functionality, and any two components capable of being soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to eachother to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples ofoperably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateableand/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactableand/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interactingand/or logically interactable components.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from this subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solelydefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).

1. A system comprising: an image storage device configurable to store atleast one historical image of at least a part of a patient; an imageplayback device (i) configurable to present responsive to a medicalexpert specification related to at least a part of an image of thepatient and (ii) operably couplable to said image storage device; and animage sequencing engine (i) operably couplable to said image playbackdevice and (ii) configurable to present at least a part of the at leastone historical image in a time-lapse context.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein said image storage device configurable to store at least onehistorical image of at least a part of a patient further comprises: atleast one of a plane mirror, a convex mirror, or a concave mirroroperably couplable with said image storage device.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said image storage device configurable to store atleast one historical image of at least a part of a patient furthercomprises: a handheld mirror operably couplable with said image storagedevice.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said image storage deviceconfigurable to store at least one historical image of at least a partof a patient further comprises: at least one of a bathroom mirror or ahall mirror operably couplable with said image storage device.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said image storage device configurable tostore at least one historical image of at least a part of a patientfurther comprises: a partially silvered mirror operably couplable withsaid image storage device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein said imagestorage device configurable to store at least one historical image of atleast a part of a patient further comprises: a wireless phone having acamera operably couplable with said image storage device.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein said image playback device (i) configurable topresent responsive to a medical expert specification related to at leasta part of an image of the patient further comprises: said image playbackdevice operably couplable with an input capture device operablycouplable with a medical-expert system.
 8. The system of claim 7,wherein said image playback device operably couplable with an inputcapture device operably couplable with a medical-expert system furthercomprises: said input capture device operably couplable with a roboticmedical-expert system.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein said imageplayback device operably couplable with an input capture device operablycouplable with a medical-expert system further comprises: said inputcapture device operably couplable with a processing system accessible bya human medical expert.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein said imageplayback device operably couplable with an input capture device operablycouplable with a medical-expert system further comprises: said imageplayback device operably couplable with a processing system residentwithin a medical expert's place of practice.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein said image playback device (i) configurable to presentresponsive to a medical expert specification related to at least a partof an image of the patient further comprises: said image playback deviceoperably couplable with an image recognition engine operably couplablewith a medical-expert system.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein saidimage playback device (i) configurable to present responsive to amedical expert specification related to at least a part of an image ofthe patient and (ii) operably couplable to said image storage device:said image playback device operably couplable with an image sortingengine operably couplable with a medical-expert system.
 13. The systemof claim 1, wherein said image playback device (i) configurable topresent responsive to a medical expert specification related to at leasta part of an image of the patient and (ii) operably couplable to saidimage storage device further comprises: a physical link between saidimage playback device and said image storage device.
 14. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said image playback device (i) configurable to presentresponsive to a medical expert specification related to at least a partof an image of the patient and (ii) operably couplable to said imagestorage device further comprises: a wireless link between said imageplayback device and said image storage device.
 15. The system of claim1, wherein said image playback device further comprises: a lightgeneration device.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein said imageplayback device further comprises: an image presentation device.
 17. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said image playback device further comprises:a laser device.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein said image storagedevice further comprises: at least one of an external drive, a wirelessnetwork component, or a wired network component.
 19. The system of claim1, further comprising: at least one image recognition engine operablycouplable with said image playback device.
 20. The system of claim 1,further comprising: at least one image sorting engine operably couplablewith said image playback device.
 21. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: at least one image capture device operably couplable withsaid image playback device.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein said atleast one image capture device further comprises: at least one imagerepresentation capture device located to capture a field of view of amirror.
 23. The system of claim 21, wherein said at least one imagecapture device further comprises: at least one image representationcapture device alignable relative to a field of view of a mirror. 24.The system of claim 21, wherein said at least one image capture devicefurther comprises: at least two image representation capture devicesalignable relative to a field of view of a mirror.
 25. The system ofclaim 21, wherein said at least one image capture device furthercomprises: at least one wireless image representation capture device.26. The system of claim 1, further comprising: at least one inputcapture device operably couplable with said image playback device. 27.The system of claim 1, further comprising: at least one imageregistration engine operably couplable with said image playback device.28. A method comprising: accepting input related to at least oneremotely-captured patient image; and presenting to a medical expert oneor more historical images related to at least a part of the at least oneremotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context.
 29. The methodof claim 28, wherein said accepting input related to at least oneremotely-captured patient image further comprises: accepting input of atleast a part of a mirror image.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein saidaccepting input related to at least one remotely-captured patient imagefurther comprises: accepting input of at least a part of an imagerepresentation.
 31. The method of claim 28, wherein said accepting inputrelated to at least one remotely-captured patient image furthercomprises: accepting input from data storage.
 32. The method of claim31, wherein said accepting input from data storage further comprises:accepting data over at least one of a wired connection channel or awireless communication channel.
 33. The method of claim 31, wherein saidaccepting input from data storage further comprises: retrieving datafrom the data storage in response to an input indicative of at least apart of a presented image.
 34. The method of claim 28, wherein thepresenting to a medical expert one or more historical images related toat least a part of the at least one remotely-captured patient image in atime-lapse context further comprises: presenting at least one of aspecified region of the image or a recognized anchor point associatedwith the image.
 35. The method of claim 28, wherein said presenting to amedical expert one or more historical images related to at least a partof the at least one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapsecontext further comprises: locating one or more images having the atleast a part of the at least one remotely-captured patient image in atime-lapse context.
 36. The method of claim 28, wherein said presentingto a medical expert one or more historical images related to at least apart of the at least one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapsecontext further comprises: identifying one or more anatomical landmarksdemarcating the at least a part of the at least one remotely-capturedpatient image in a time-lapse context; obtaining one or moreremotely-captured images having the one or more anatomical landmarks;and presenting the one or more remotely-captured images having the oneor more anatomical landmarks.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein saidpresenting the one or more remotely-captured images having the one ormore anatomical landmarks further comprises: registering at least aportion of the one or more remotely-captured images having the one ormore anatomical landmarks with another image.
 38. The method of claim36, wherein said presenting the one or more remotely-captured imageshaving the one or more anatomical landmarks further comprises:sequencing at least a portion of the one or more remotely-capturedimages having the one or more anatomical landmarks.
 39. The method ofclaim 28, wherein said presenting to a medical expert one or morehistorical images related to at least a part of the at least oneremotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context furthercomprises: tracking a specified feature having a state; and presentingthe one or more stored images when a change in the state exceeds aselected tolerance value.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein saidtracking a specified feature having a state further comprises: trackingat least one of hair length or jowl size.
 41. The method of claim 39,wherein said tracking a specified feature having a state furthercomprises: tracking at least one of a skin lesion or a body region. 42.The method of claim 39, wherein said presenting the one or more storedimages when a change in the state exceeds a selected tolerance valuefurther comprises: presenting an image having the state in conjunctionwith an image whose state exceeds the selected tolerance value.
 43. Asystem comprising: means for accepting input related to at least oneremotely-captured patient image; and means for presenting to a medicalexpert one or more historical images related to at least a part of theat least one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context.44. The system of claim 43, wherein said means for accepting inputrelated to at least one remotely-captured patient image furthercomprises: means for accepting input of at least a part of a mirrorimage.
 45. The system of claim 44, wherein said means for acceptinginput of at least a part of a mirror image further comprises: means foraccepting input of at least a part of an image representation.
 46. Thesystem of claim 44, wherein said means for accepting input of at least apart of a mirror image further comprises: means for accepting input fromdata storage.
 47. The system of claim 46, wherein said means foraccepting input from data storage further comprises: means for acceptingdata over at least one of a wired connection channel or a wirelesscommunication channel.
 48. The system of claim 46, wherein said meansfor accepting input from data storage further comprises: means forretrieving data from the data storage in response to an input indicativeof at least a part of a presented image.
 49. The system of claim 43,wherein the at least a part of the at least one remotely-capturedpatient image in a time-lapse context further comprises: presenting atleast one of a specified region of the image or a recognized anchorpoint associated with the image.
 50. The system of claim 43, whereinsaid means for presenting to a medical expert one or more historicalimages related to at least a part of the at least one remotely-capturedpatient image in a time-lapse context further comprises: means forlocating one or more images having the at least a part of the at leastone remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context.
 51. Thesystem of claim 43, wherein said means for presenting to a medicalexpert one or more historical images related to at least a part of theat least one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse contextfurther comprises: means for identifying one or more anatomicallandmarks demarcating the at least a part of the at least oneremotely-captured patient image in a time-lapse context; means forobtaining one or more remotely-captured images having the one or moreanatomical landmarks; and means for presenting the one or moreremotely-captured images having the one or more anatomical landmarks.52. The system of claim 51, wherein said means for presenting the one ormore remotely-captured images having the one or more anatomicallandmarks further comprises: means for registering at least a portion ofthe one or more remotely-captured images having the one or moreanatomical landmarks with another image.
 53. The system of claim 51,wherein said means for presenting the one or more remotely-capturedimages having the one or more anatomical landmarks further comprises:means for sequencing at least a portion of the one or moreremotely-captured images having the one or more anatomical landmarks.54. The system of claim 43, wherein said means for presenting to amedical expert one or more historical images related to at least a partof the at least one remotely-captured patient image in a time-lapsecontext further comprises: means for tracking a specified feature havinga state; and means for presenting the one or more stored images when achange in the state exceeds a selected tolerance value.
 55. The systemof claim 54, wherein said means for tracking a specified feature havinga state further comprises: means for tracking at least one of hairlength or jowl size.
 56. The system of claim 54, wherein said means fortracking a specified feature having a state further comprises: means fortracking at least one of a skin lesion or a body region.
 57. The systemof claim 54, wherein said means for presenting the one or more storedimages when a change in the state exceeds a selected tolerance valuefurther comprises: means for presenting an image having the state inconjunction with an image whose state exceeds the selected tolerancevalue.
 58. A method comprising: recognizing a medical indicator; andpresenting at least a part of one or more remotely-captured images inresponse to the recognized medical indicator.
 59. The method of claim58, wherein said recognizing a medical indicator further comprises:detecting robotically the medical indicator in image-related data. 60.The method of claim 58, wherein said recognizing a medical indicatorfurther comprises: receiving input indicative of the medical indicator.61. The method of claim 60, wherein said receiving input indicative ofthe medical indicator further comprises: receiving input indicating aportion of at least a part of a patient image.
 62. The method of claim58, wherein said presenting at least a part of one or moreremotely-captured images in response to the recognized medical indicatorfurther comprises: presenting the at least a part of the one or moreremotely-captured images in a time-lapsed fashion.
 63. A systemcomprising: circuitry for recognizing a medical indicator; and circuitryfor presenting at least a part of one or more remotely-captured imagesin response to the recognized medical indicator.
 64. A systemcomprising: means for recognizing a medical indicator; and means forpresenting at least a part of one or more remotely-captured images inresponse to the recognized medical indicator.
 65. A method comprising:accepting input of at least a part of a remotely-captured image of amirror; and presenting to a medical expert one or more historical imagesrelated to at least a part of the remotely-captured image of the mirror.66. The method of claim 65, wherein said accepting input of at least apart of a remotely-captured image of a mirror further comprises:receiving input of at least a part of a remotely-captured image of atleast one of a plane mirror, a convex mirror, or a concave mirror. 67.The method of claim 65, wherein said accepting input of at least a partof a remotely-captured image of a mirror further comprises: receivinginput of at least a part of a remotely-captured image of a digitalmirror.
 68. A system comprising: circuitry for accepting input of atleast a part of a remotely-captured image of a mirror; and circuitry forpresenting to a medical expert one or more historical images related toat least a part of the remotely-captured image of the mirror.
 69. Asystem comprising: means for accepting input of at least a part of aremotely-captured image of a mirror; and means for presenting to amedical expert one or more historical images related to at least a partof the remotely-captured image of the mirror.
 70. A method comprising:accepting input of at least a part of a remotely-captured image of awireless device; and presenting to a medical expert one or morehistorical images related to at least a part of the remotely-capturedimage of the wireless device.
 71. The method of claim 70, wherein saidaccepting input of at least a part of a remotely-captured image of awireless device further comprises: receiving input of at least a part ofa remotely-captured image of at least one of a cell phone or a wirelesspersonal digital assistant.
 72. A system comprising: circuitry foraccepting input of at least a part of a remotely-captured image of awireless device; and circuitry for presenting to a medical expert one ormore historical images related to at least a part of theremotely-captured image of the wireless device.
 73. A system comprising:means for accepting input of at least a part of a remotely-capturedimage of a wireless device; and means for presenting to a medical expertone or more historical images related to at least a part of theremotely-captured image of the wireless device.
 74. A system comprising:an image storage device configurable to store at least one historicalimage of at least a part of a person; an image playback device (i)configurable to present responsive to an expert specification related toat least a part of an image of the person and (ii) operably couplable tosaid image storage device; and an image sequencing engine (i) operablycouplable to said image playback device and (ii) configurable to presentat least a part of the at least one historical image in a time-lapsecontext.
 75. The method of claim 74, wherein the expert furthercomprises: at least one of a mechanical expert, an electrical expert, ora biological expert.